Sobriety in the City Events

Name: Self-Promo Without the Cringe: Platform, Pitching, and Press Releases 4-Week Zoom Intensive with Tawny Lara, Starts Monday, November 3rd, 2025
Start: 2025-11-24T15:00:00-08:00
End: 2025-11-24T17:00:00-08:00
Location: Tawny Lara Virtual Course

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Event Series: Self-Promo Without the Cringe: Platform, Pitching, and Press Releases 4-Week Zoom Intensive with Tawny Lara, Starts Monday, November 3rd, 2025

Self-Promo Without the Cringe: Platform, Pitching, and Press Releases 4-Week Zoom Intensive with Tawny Lara, Starts Monday, November 3rd, 2025

November 24 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm PST

$299.00

Self-Promo Without the Cringe: Platform, Pitching, and Press Releases 4-Week Zoom Intensive with Tawny Lara, Starts Monday, November 3rd, 2025

Class Starts on Monday, November 3rd, 2025

The class will meet weekly via Zoom on Mondays, 6:00PM – 8:00PM Eastern.

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

This course is designed for writers ready to prioritize their platform. Tawny Lara, Quirk and Penguin Random House author of Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze, and the forthcoming card deck, The Sobriety Deck, designed this intensive as the DIY PR Intensive she needed in the early stages of her publishing career. Tawny also has a Business degree, and she’s the CMO of a drink brand. She approaches DIY PR the same way she approaches business.

Hiring a publicist can be expensive AF, while learning how to do your own outreach can feel like one more thing on an already overwhelming to-do list. You want to get the word out about your work but have no clue where to start. That’s where DIY PR comes in. This course is designed to help you promote your work (books, essays, expertise, business, products) by learning Tawny’s scrappy approach to DIY publicity and platform building.

Join author and entrepreneur Tawny Lara for a five-week intensive filled with tangible advice on getting quoted as an expert on your subject, being a podcast guest, and creating a public persona with solid boundaries. You’ll also learn whether to hire a publicist or try DIY.

Tawny’s a self-help author who likes to keep it real, so she’ll facilitate frank discussions about the finances of working with publicists and virtual assistants. This course concludes with therapy-informed tips on managing the emotions that come with rejection, imposter syndrome, and the myriad emotions associated with writer life and media outreach.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Platform + Persona – Identify what makes you, you by exploring your “why me, why now.” Learn Tawny’s experience creating “The Sober Sexpert” persona that landed her a book deal and hear what she’d do differently if she started today. You’ll also learn how to set boundaries while honing a public persona so you can prioritize your privacy.

Week 2: Find Your Target Audience(s) – Tawny leads a series of exercises to help you identify your target audience(s). Then, you’ll learn how to pitch the gatekeepers (editors, reporters, podcast hosts, etc…) who publish the content your target audience consumes. Getting eyes and ears on your expertise is essential for platform building.

Week 3: Essay Pitches – Writing for traditional or new media outlets can be a great way to establish yourself as an expert while also getting more eyes on existing work. Tawny shares examples of her essay pitches that got her in writing in Men’s Health, Playboy, LitHub, and more. Students will practice writing their own pitches and receive feedback.

Week 4: Press Pitches – While week 3 is all about collecting bylines, week 4 covers “alerting the press” about your expertise. Learn the basics of a press release and personalized media pitch. You’ll also review Tawny’s media pitches that landed her expertise as “The Sober Sexpert” on NPR, Men’s Health, Dan Savage’s Savage Love, and more. Students will write their own media pitches and receive feedback.

SPECIFIC COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

Students will learn how to define (or refine) their public persona—rooted in their personal “why me, why now”—while still maintaining healthy boundaries to protect their privacy. By the end of Week 1, they’ll have clarity on what sets them apart and how to leverage that uniqueness to stand out in a saturated market.
Through guided exercises, students will pinpoint the exact audiences most likely to connect with their work. They’ll also learn practical outreach tactics—pitching editors, podcast hosts, and other “gatekeepers”—to effectively reach those audiences and build a genuine platform.
Over Weeks 3 and 4, students will develop and refine their own essay pitches and press releases. They’ll see real examples from Tawny’s successful placements (in outlets like Men’s Health, Playboy, LitHub, NPR) and receive personalized feedback to help them position their writing and expertise for maximum impact.
The course culminates in candid discussions on the realities of rejection, imposter syndrome, and the mental toll of doing your own publicity. Students will leave with therapy-informed strategies to navigate emotional roadblocks, plus insights on whether to DIY or hire professional help—all grounded in an honest look at the finances and logistics of PR for writers.